He made the comments after visiting Fukui Prefecture this weekend, where he had hoped to obtain the permission of local officials to restart reactors #3 and #4 at the Oi nuclear power plant. However, he and other ministers in the Noda administration no longer believe that obtaining that consent will be easy. Although local approval is not legally required to operate nuclear reactors, power plant operators have consulted with nearby communities for decades. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, most experts agree it would be politically perilous for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to ignore a rising swell of opposition to nuclear power.

Restarting the Oi reactors has been met with considerable resistance from surrounding prefectures, where residents share the danger of a possible accident. The governors of Shiga and Kyoto Prefectures have been particularly vocal, as have both the mayor and governor of Osaka. Keiji Yamada, Governor of Kyoto, noted, “The government should be cautious about resuming operations while only stopgap measures are in place, since it has been tasked to come up with permanent measures…I do not believe a nuclear accident on the scale of what happened in Fukushima can be avoided solely with these countermeasures in place.” Yamada was referring to new safety measures for nuclear plants that the government announced next week. However, many of these will not be put into place for years, and residents remain concerned about their safety, questioning the effectiveness of measures that were compiled in less than three days.

An expert panel appointed by Japan’s Environment Ministry said that greenhouse gas emissions in Japan could be reduced by 25% by 2030, even without the use of nuclear power, if the country significantly increases use of renewable forms of energy.

TEPCO announced that nitrogen gas injection into reactors #1, #2, and #3 stopped unexpectedly for nearly nine hours this week. Workers are continuing to inject nitrogen into the crippled reactors in order to prevent more hydrogen explosions; failure to do so could be exceedingly dangerous. However, TEPCO officials said that hydrogen levels remained stable, and there was no increased risk of explosion. This is the fourth time that nitrogen injections have failed in the last six weeks.

A second thermometer has broken in Fukushima Daiichi’s reactor #2, leaving only one working temperature sensor. According to officials it will take up to 10 years to remove molten fuel from the reactor vessel, and temperature monitoring is crucial to ensuring that another meltdown doesn’t occur. Normally, thermometers and other equipment are tested and often replaced every 13 months. However, extremely high radiation levels are preventing workers from getting close enough to the reactor to perform repairs. Experts are concerned that the one remaining temperature gauge will not last 10 years, and are worried about overall stability of the reactors, as well as TEPCO’s ability to monitor their safety.

Japan lifted evacuation orders for parts of Minamisoma this week, although residents are still restricted from staying overnight and were prohibited from areas that are still designated as radioactive hotspots. Officials are hoping to eventually repopulate the city, but residents continue to express concerns about radiation levels, as well as adequate infrastructure.

The more that comes out about Tepco's problem with nitrogen injections and the difficult task of the removal of the crane that collapsed in pool p...

The more that comes out about Tepco's problem with nitrogen injections and the difficult task of the removal of the crane that collapsed in pool plus the Japanese people not being able to return to their homes , why on earth would they even consider restarting the reactors . They are finding more contaminated food and the search is far from over. The government supposedly works for the people not the other way around. Political careers are on the line as they well should be. Thank you again Greenpeace.